Leading British entrepreneur Peter Wood has vowed to keep all his wealth in Britain and to pay his full tax here when his insurance group Esure floats on the London stock market next year.

Depending on market conditions, Wood plans to launch the initial public offering of Esure in the first half of 2013 in a listing that would value the company in excess of £1billion.

As the dominant shareholder in Esure, Wood would expect to clear, after adviser charges, at least £128million from selling around half his stake and plans to take no avoidance measures.

Taxing question: Peter Wood says he will not be looking to reduce his tax bill with a move overseas

It was reported some months ago that Wood was looking at the possibility of moving his domicile to the Channel Islands as a means of easing his tax burden.

But with the increasing disclosures of widespread tax avoidance by businesses operating in Britain, Wood is making it clear he and his family want to lead by example by making their full contribution to the Exchequer.

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Wood is one of the few British financiers to emerge from the great financial panic with his business empire enhanced.

When his partners Lloyds-HBOS ran into difficulty in the autumn of 2008 Wood moved quickly to rescue Esure from the wreckage using his personal wealth to buy back his shares in the group.

‘I am a British resident and intend to stay in the UK,’ Wood said yesterday. He was sharply critical of US firms such as eBay and Google that make huge profits in UK and compete with his online insurance site GoCompare.com but avoid UK tax.

He urged the Government to create a ‘level playing field for online businesses’ in the UK.
Wood is among the most successful figures in the global insurance industry.

In an earlier life at Royal Bank of Scotland he built Direct Line, which at its peak earnings power was estimated to be worth £10billion.
He had done much the same in the US, where he has been a key figure at insurer Plymouth Rock.

As someone who spends a considerable part of his business life in the US – in Boston and also has a home in Florida – Wood had no shortage of routes to avoid the net of British taxation.

Esure broke new ground in the British insurance market by reaching out to women through the Sheilas’ Wheels brand. As a father of five daughters Wood did not need convincing that women are the safer drivers.

Following the IPO, Wood intends to remain chairman as well as being the largest shareholder.
He is committing, however, that any chairman’s fees go directly into a charitable trust and he will be paying the full whack of income tax on any dividends that he receives in the future.